Motion Control Products

Application note
How to display a page to indicate communication error
AN00201-002

Java script allows CP600 HMIs to perform a

vast array of user-defined functions with
ease

Introduction
The CP600 range of intelligent HMI panels is able to communicate with other peripherals (e.g. AC500 PLCs, ABB motion products)
via a selection of communication protocols. This application note details how these HMIs can be programmed to display a particular
page from the HMI project whenever a communication error is present. For general guidance on the use of Panel Builder 600 please
refer to ABB manual 2CDC159007M0201.
To configure a CP600 HMI to communicate with an ABB motion control product via Modbus RTU/TCP requires Panel Builder 600
version 1.80.00.34 (or later). Please contact your local Sales office if you need to update your existing version of this software.
The following application notes may also be useful references:
AN00198 : Integrated Modbus Support
AN00199 : Connecting ABB CP600 HMIs to ABB Motion Products via Modbus TCP
AN00200 : Connecting ABB CP600 HMIs to ABB Motion Products via Modbus RTU
For the purposes of this application note we will assume a NextMove ESB-2 motion controller has been connected to a CP620 HMI
and is using the ABB Modbus RTU protocol for communication

ABB Motion control products

www.abbmotion.com

Application note

How to display a page to indicate communication error

AN00201-002

Overview of functionality
To enable the HMI to detect a loss of communication with the connected PLC / Motion Control product we need to configure the
following elements:
A page to display in the event of the error being detected
An internal variable used to store the last known communication status
A scheduled task that calls a Java script function to check the current communication status
The Java script function code
It is assumed the reader is already familiar with creating HMI pages using the Panel Builder 600 software. Refer to the Panel Builder
600 software manual or the help file integrated within the software if more details are required on how to create and edit HMI pages.
Creating an internal variable
Double click the project configuration icon shown in the ProjectView pane (highlighted in our screenshot below).

Our project is called Project1 and we have already added a second page to this project and named this page Comms Error.
Having double-clicked the project configuration icon the software now displays the projects configuration screen in the right pane.
We need to click on the Variables Widget icon as shown below so it becomes highlighted:

In the Properties window click on the <empty> text.a + button will appear on the text box as shown below:

Now click on the + button and then click Select Variable. A dialog appears listing the variables defined in the project (there are
none at present of course)

ABB Motion control products

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Application note

How to display a page to indicate communication error

AN00201-002

Click on the green plus symbol and create a variable called LastCommsState

Click OK and the Properties dialog for the project variables will now show our variable called LastCommsState exists.
Creating a scheduled task
Double click the Scheduler icon shown in the ProjectView pane (highlighted in our screenshot below).

The software now displays a list of all of the programmed scheduled tasks (this list is empty at present as were yet to create one)

Click on the blue plus symbol to add a scheduled task.

The software will add some default information about the scheduled task automatically

ABB Motion control products

www.abbmotion.com

Application note

How to display a page to indicate communication error

AN00201-002

Click on the text in the Schedule column (Daily, Time, 13:57)..we need to change this to a schedule type that is performed every 2
seconds. The screenshot below shows how to configure the settings to achieve this

Click OK and our Scheduler list now updates to reflect these changes.
It is now worth giving this scheduled task a name that indicates what the task does.click on the text in the Name column
(Schedule1) and rename this CheckComms (as shown below)

Now click in the Action text box, a dialog will appear allowing us to program what action will be taken every 2 secondsWe need to
program the scheduled task to call a Java script function so on the Macro tab select Javascript as shown below

ABB Motion control products

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Application note

How to display a page to indicate communication error

AN00201-002

The software automatically lists an action called Javascript-CheckComms. The name for the Java script function is inherited
automatically from the name we gave the scheduled task. Click OK to accept this.
Creating the Java script code to display a page when a communication error occurs
Double-click the project configuration icon again so that the Variables widget icon and the rest of the Mgr icons are displayed again.

In the project window, at the bottom left corner, you will see we are currently viewing the Edit tab. Click on the Script tab
instead

The software now displays the Java scripts that are present in our project. As we saw in the previous step, the software
automatically created a script called CheckComms (named after our schedule) and the code window now displays the outline for
this script.

ABB Motion control products

www.abbmotion.com

Application note

How to display a page to indicate communication error

AN00201-002

Click in the code editor, insert some blank lines before the final } character and then either paste or write the following lines of
code so they become part of the function

var plcMgr = project.getWidget("_SysPropMgr");

var comState = plcMgr.getProperty("Protocol Communication Status");
var varWgt = project.getWidget("_VariablesWgt");
var compVar = varWgt.getProperty("LastCommsState");
if( compVar != comState) {
if(comState === "2") {
project.loadPage("Comms Error.jmx");
varWgt.setProperty("LastCommsState",2);
}else{
project.lastVisitedPage();
varWgt.setProperty("LastCommsState",1);
}
}
else {
return false;
}
Your Java script should now look something like the following

This script compares the current communication status (read via the inbuilt system tag Protocol Communication Status) against
our defined internal variable LastCommsState. If they are different it decides whether to display the Comms Error screen (via the
project.loadpage function) or to return to the last page that was displayed (via the project.lastVisitedPage function).
These actions are performed every 2 seconds (as setup by our scheduled task) and if a communication error is detected our
Comms Error page is displayed automatically

ABB Motion control products

www.abbmotion.com

Application note

How to display a page to indicate communication error

AN00201-002

For more information about Java script and the available Java script functions within Panel Builder 600 please refer to the Working
with Javascript in Panel Builder 600 topic in the help file included with the software.

Contact us
For more information please contact your
local ABB representative or one of the following:

Copyright 2012 ABB. All rights reserved.

Specifications subject to change without notice.

www.abbmotion.com
www.abb.com/drives
www.abb.com/drivespartners
www.abb.com/PLC

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